When the TV Broke

by Harriet Ziefert

Book Overview

When the television breaks, Jeffrey is forced to find fun and imaginative ways to entertain himself This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140509844
• ISBN13: 9780140509847
• Release Date: May 1989
• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Bravo!

This is an amazingly good story to entice young children to turn off the TV for a while. Jeffrey's TV set breaks, and he has to wait days for it to be fixed! At first the suffers terribly, but finally decides to entertain himself. Crayons, paints, scissors, glue, etc., and presto! Jeffrey is an artist! When the TV comes back, Jeffrey is not quite so interested. Wonderful and highly recommended!

When the TV Broke

ISBN 0670826685 - For ages 4-8, When the TV Broke is a great book for those days when the only thing your child seems to say is "I have nothing to doooo...". Mavis Smith's illustrations are perfect for the story - not too cluttered with details and bright and colorful. Jeffrey is a big TV fan. He watches all the time. So when the TV breaks, Jeffrey can't find anything to do! How will he manage to get through the days while the TV is being repaired?? Of course, he manages - and the things that get him through will serve as a super starting point for all the TV-addicted kids in the world who find themselves yelling "Mom, I'm bored!" The only negative I could find was that a chunk of the story is told in the illustrations, rather than the text. For example, on Friday, Jeffrey builds an intricate city from boxes and says he's doing "Nothing much." What he actually IS doing isn't said in the text. That makes this a book that definitely doesn't work as a bedtime story, because the one being read to HAS to be looking at the pictures to "get it". I wouldn't take away a star for that, though. It's a cute and entertaining story with a nice lesson for all the little budding couch potatoes in the world.

Great Book to Teach Media Awareness to Preschool Children

I agree with the first reviewer of this book. The mistakes sited in the second review have been corrected in the copy I own. My son loves this book and we read it often.

The screen went blank....

This is the best children's book that I've read in ages. You don't have to just take my word for it though, it is so good that Fred Rogers also read it on his show.The story deals with what a little boy does when the family television breaks and has to be taken to the shop. At first he is absolutely lost since he spends his entire life in front of the tv, seven days a week. All he can do is ask his mother, over and over, if it is fixed yet? Slowly, however, he starts to do other things. He starts to read books. Then, he starts to use his imagination and actually create things on his own. By the last page he has actually created an entire world for himself- and hardly notices when the tv is brought back.After reading this little classic you might just be tempted to break the television for yourself....